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General Upgrades & Ideas

I looked for a generalist thread and didn't find one nor did I find a general bathroom thread, so here's a question.

Our new home has a larger master bath than our previous place -- it's an actual master bath -- but it's over the garage and gets rather cool in the winter. Apart from a space heater, does anyone have any suggestions or seen something useful in warming up the bathroom? I'd like a heated floor but I don't see that happening right now and it seems like the heat lamps over the shower are past their prime. Or should I just forego showering during the winter?

I looked for a generalist thread and didn't find one nor did I find a general bathroom thread, so here's a question.

Our new home has a larger master bath than our previous place -- it's an actual master bath -- but it's over the garage and gets rather cool in the winter. Apart from a space heater, does anyone have any suggestions or seen something useful in warming up the bathroom? I'd like a heated floor but I don't see that happening right now and it seems like the heat lamps over the shower are past their prime. Or should I just forego showering during the winter?

You should have dual furnaces, right? It may help to adjust the baffles in the ducts, to get more hot air flowing toward that portion of the floor.

And a tankless water heater for plenty of hot water and energy tax credit.

"If there is one thing I am, it's always right." -Ted Nugent.
"I honestly believe saying someone is a smart lawyer is damning with faint praise. The smartest people become engineers and scientists." -SU."I never preached in Texas, but I have preached in places as wicked..." -Brigham Young."If we do nothing we'll be substantially behind (other Power leagues) a decade from now." -Bob Bowlsby on Big 12 expansion.GIVE 'EM HELL, BRIGHAM!

"If there is one thing I am, it's always right." -Ted Nugent.
"I honestly believe saying someone is a smart lawyer is damning with faint praise. The smartest people become engineers and scientists." -SU."I never preached in Texas, but I have preached in places as wicked..." -Brigham Young."If we do nothing we'll be substantially behind (other Power leagues) a decade from now." -Bob Bowlsby on Big 12 expansion.GIVE 'EM HELL, BRIGHAM!

crown molding question.
I've never been happy with my inside corners while doing crowns. They aren't water tight, and I always end up caulking more than I'd like.
I always cope, so the one side is easy, but measuring and cutting the other piece is a real pain. Especially for longer pieces. What are you tricks for getting a tighter fit?
I have a couple of big projects coming up, and I want to improve.

coffered ceilings:
It seems like there are several ways to do it. We're planning on going pretty beefy. 5-6 inches wide and 4-5 inches off the ceiling.
My first thought is to tack the basic grid pattern on the ceiling with 2x4, or 2x6 if we go bigger, then make essentially two "U"s that fit over each other.
sort of like this:

Not sure if we are doing crowns on the interior of the "beams" as it may not match the style that the designer (my wife) is trying to achieve. So that would alter the image above slightly. The outer U would go to the ceiling. And I see no need to remove drywall, per the drawing.

coffered ceilings:
It seems like there are several ways to do it. We're planning on going pretty beefy. 5-6 inches wide and 4-5 inches off the ceiling.
My first thought is to tack the basic grid pattern on the ceiling with 2x4, or 2x6 if we go bigger, then make essentially two "U"s that fit over each other.
sort of like this:

Not sure if we are doing crowns on the interior of the "beams" as it may not match the style that the designer (my wife) is trying to achieve. So that would alter the image above slightly. The outer U would go to the ceiling. And I see no need to remove drywall, per the drawing.

Anyone done them? Tips, recommendations?

As long as you do a second coat of popcorn ceiling, it'll look great. Other than that, I wish I had useful advice.

crown molding question.
I've never been happy with my inside corners while doing crowns. They aren't water tight, and I always end up caulking more than I'd like.I always cope, so the one side is easy, but measuring and cutting the other piece is a real pain. Especially for longer pieces. What are you tricks for getting a tighter fit?
I have a couple of big projects coming up, and I want to improve.

Did you mean that you cope with caulking more than you'd like? Or do you mean that you use a coping saw?
It is important that I understand exactly what you mean, as I will be judged by others if I fall short in my interpretation.

Did you mean that you cope with caulking more than you'd like? Or do you mean that you use a coping saw?
It is important that I understand exactly what you mean, as I will be judged by others if I fall short in my interpretation.

I use coping saw. How do you measure the length to be coped accurately?

will build a pole barn this year. 2 stalls, tack room, hay storage, and saddleup area. approximate size is 24x40.
floor will be a concrete pad. supports posts will be 4x4 or 6x6, as needed. Supports will be bolted onto the pad. Nothing touching the dirt. All repairs will be done by the person who buys it after I'm dead.
How is the best way to do footers under the support posts? Can I dig some holes where the posts will go, fill with concrete, then pour the pad on top of that? And if so, I'm assuming I put some rebar into the footers and bend them over so they tie into the pad? Or do I want to just let it float under, and bear the load of the posts?
Does that make sense?

also, wifey is tired of rats in the tack room, and is demanding a tack room made of cinderblocks. I'm assuming I'll use the narrow ones to save space. How well doe these insulate? I can put something in the cinder block holes to help I guess. Will be covered on the outside with cement-board siding.

will name the barn "Allan", but might consider suggestions from anyone who gives me useful advice.

I would assume that you are doing some minor excavation to prep the area for the slab. It should not take much more time to excavate for a thickened slab along the exterior, load bearing walls. I would add rebar in the thickened slab area to tie into the slab rebar or mesh.

I would assume that you are doing some minor excavation to prep the area for the slab. It should not take much more time to excavate for a thickened slab along the exterior, load bearing walls. I would add rebar in the thickened slab area to tie into the slab rebar or mesh.

I would have a thickened slab 24" wide in line with where the posts go with a depth of 12" from the top of the slab, placed monolythically. This is very common in home construction and is rather cost effective.

I would have a thickened slab 24" wide in line with where the posts go with a depth of 12" from the top of the slab, placed monolythically. This is very common in home construction and is rather cost effective.

cool, thanks. This makes sense.
PM me your naming suggestions, if you want, and I'll consider them.
If you have any old, worn out nail clippers, I will embed them into the concrete as a testament to your help.

crown molding question.
I've never been happy with my inside corners while doing crowns. They aren't water tight, and I always end up caulking more than I'd like.
I always cope, so the one side is easy, but measuring and cutting the other piece is a real pain. Especially for longer pieces. What are you tricks for getting a tighter fit?
I have a couple of big projects coming up, and I want to improve.

I recently sent this email to my BIL who is running trim all throughout his house (base, casings, crown, everything). He has zero experience in this, so my apologies for obvious things you already know.

First of all, the most difficult fit is the piece that has both ends coped, of which you should only have 1. In a square/rectangular room it should go like this

Wall 1: full length cut square end to end, no coping.
Wall 2: Cope the end that meets with Wall 1, square the other.
Wall 3: Cope the end that meets with Wall 2, square the other.
Wall 4: Cope both ends.

This gives you more leeway on the fit because the squared end can be as much as 1/4" short and it will be covered by the other piece.

Getting the measurement on that final piece is critical. Check it multiple times and make sure you're not measuring it short. There's no such thing as a board stretcher.

It can make for awkward handling, but with crown especially I try to make sure that the last piece (wall 4) is the longest run in the room, and that it's 1/16-3/32 longer than my measurement. This allows me to spring it in there and make sure it's a tight fit. The flexibility of the longer piece makes it possible to use brute force to push it into place while nailing it. Rather than nail from one end to the other, I have had good results in nailing in both ends first and then moving toward the middle. It's much easier (and better looking) to caulk a small gap against the wall/ceiling than the corner.

Getting the coped end to fit the crown it's butting up against can be tricky. The solution is to be patient and get some good files that fit your profile. The first cut is important. I want to get close to the line, but never hit it with the coping saw, then use files to get the detail work. I like to make a small notch with a sharp pocket/utility knife at the beginning of each so that the saw blade doesn't jump around and mess up the piece.

Be patient and don't overdo it on the filing. You have your mark on the wood, and you shouldn't be taking so much off that the line disappears. I like to take a piece of scrap, mark the correct angle (whatever that is for your moulding) on the face and use it to see how the coped end lines up, removing more where it needs it. Also remember that the inside corners of the coped area should be smooth and not have any ridges from the saw or where you broke a piece out to avoid over-sawing. If the file isn't getting in there without taking off too much material then I'll use a sharp pocket knife to get in there and trim it up. A little ridge in the corner can throw off your fit enough to be noticeable. Sometimes a wall that's not perfectly square will throw off your fit. The only solution there is to square the wall (not going to happen) or to use some caulk.

I hope that helps some. Let me know if it doesn't and I'll see if I can't explain it better. It's tough to do in writing. I just finished running trim in my basement. Of the 8 coped corners (for base caps) I was really happy with 3 of them, the others were acceptable, but nothing special. I'm ok with a 1/16 gap. I'll put caulk in the joint then put the coped piece in and nail it so that excess caulk squishes out, but the right amount got in there where it's supposed to be. I do that with all joints, regardless of how well I made them fit. Sometimes that's just the way they work out, at least for me.

I recently sent this email to my BIL who is running trim all throughout his house (base, casings, crown, everything). He has zero experience in this, so my apologies for obvious things you already know.

First of all, the most difficult fit is the piece that has both ends coped, of which you should only have 1. In a square/rectangular room it should go like this

Wall 1: full length cut square end to end, no coping.
Wall 2: Cope the end that meets with Wall 1, square the other.
Wall 3: Cope the end that meets with Wall 2, square the other.
Wall 4: Cope both ends.

This gives you more leeway on the fit because the squared end can be as much as 1/4" short and it will be covered by the other piece.

Getting the measurement on that final piece is critical. Check it multiple times and make sure you're not measuring it short. There's no such thing as a board stretcher.

It can make for awkward handling, but with crown especially I try to make sure that the last piece (wall 4) is the longest run in the room, and that it's 1/16-3/32 longer than my measurement. This allows me to spring it in there and make sure it's a tight fit. The flexibility of the longer piece makes it possible to use brute force to push it into place while nailing it. Rather than nail from one end to the other, I have had good results in nailing in both ends first and then moving toward the middle. It's much easier (and better looking) to caulk a small gap against the wall/ceiling than the corner.

Getting the coped end to fit the crown it's butting up against can be tricky. The solution is to be patient and get some good files that fit your profile. The first cut is important. I want to get close to the line, but never hit it with the coping saw, then use files to get the detail work. I like to make a small notch with a sharp pocket/utility knife at the beginning of each so that the saw blade doesn't jump around and mess up the piece.

Be patient and don't overdo it on the filing. You have your mark on the wood, and you shouldn't be taking so much off that the line disappears. I like to take a piece of scrap, mark the correct angle (whatever that is for your moulding) on the face and use it to see how the coped end lines up, removing more where it needs it. Also remember that the inside corners of the coped area should be smooth and not have any ridges from the saw or where you broke a piece out to avoid over-sawing. If the file isn't getting in there without taking off too much material then I'll use a sharp pocket knife to get in there and trim it up. A little ridge in the corner can throw off your fit enough to be noticeable. Sometimes a wall that's not perfectly square will throw off your fit. The only solution there is to square the wall (not going to happen) or to use some caulk.

I hope that helps some. Let me know if it doesn't and I'll see if I can't explain it better. It's tough to do in writing. I just finished running trim in my basement. Of the 8 coped corners (for base caps) I was really happy with 3 of them, the others were acceptable, but nothing special. I'm ok with a 1/16 gap. I'll put caulk in the joint then put the coped piece in and nail it so that excess caulk squishes out, but the right amount got in there where it's supposed to be. I do that with all joints, regardless of how well I made them fit. Sometimes that's just the way they work out, at least for me.

Thanks a lot for this very detailed response. Some clever things I hadn't thought of.
What kind of files do you use?

Thanks a lot for this very detailed response. Some clever things I hadn't thought of.
What kind of files do you use?

I must have missed this when you posted it. The quality of the file isn't as important as the profile. I mainly use three: a small tapered half round file, a larger straight half round, and a small, triangular file. All of them are about a medium coarseness, they don't have to be really fine. I think I got mine in a set from Home Depot a long time ago and they're still working just fine, despite heavy use.

Originally Posted by Drunk Tank

Why cope? Do you find it easier than using a miter saw? Even corners that aren't exactly 90° are fairly easy using an angle gauge and miter saw. They even have jigs that make it even easier.

Try doing both and see which gives you a better fit. If you're doing the coping right, it will be better every single time, and you don't have to fidget around with an angle finder, just scribe and cope.

I must have missed this when you posted it. The quality of the file isn't as important as the profile. I mainly use three: a small tapered half round file, a larger straight half round, and a small, triangular file. All of them are about a medium coarseness, they don't have to be really fine. I think I got mine in a set from Home Depot a long time ago and they're still working just fine, despite heavy use.

Try doing both and see which gives you a better fit. If you're doing the coping right, it will be better every single time, and you don't have to fidget around with an angle finder, just scribe and cope.